Popular online waterfowl hunting content creator continues to grow
With a presence on all major social media platforms, Campus Waterfowl showcases the lifestyle of college waterfowl hunters and shows the outdoor industry that these students are not to be overlooked.
Established in 2014 by outdoor media writer and television host Jason Cruise, Campus Waterfowl, the largest digital community dedicated to college waterfowl hunters, officially became part of Ducks Unlimited in June 2021.
“Today’s college waterfowl hunters are tomorrow’s industry leaders and influencers, so partnering with them is absolutely essential to ensuring the future of wetland conservation,” said DU Brand Director Doug Barnes. “Campus Waterfowl has created a loyal and passionate community of college athletes. Ducks Unlimited’s acquisition of Campus Waterfowl is a natural progression in our ongoing R3 (recruit, retain, reactivate) efforts with the next generation of hunters and conservationists.”
Derek Christians, a graduate of South Dakota State University, was one of the first interns, along with Wesley Littlefield from Rogers State University and Logan Smith from Mississippi State University.
Over the years, Campus Waterfowl has become much more than just a social media page. The Christians realized that Campus Waterfowl was indirectly contributing to the R3 movement. In 2019, the Christians began the Collegiate Waterfowl Tour. In this YouTube video series, Campus Waterfowl travels to college campuses to capture and share the lifestyles and stories of a group of college waterfowl hunters.
“Each stop on the tour is an opportunity to shed light on what life is like for college-age waterfowl hunters. You can see everything that goes into a hunt,” Christians said. “You see how this passion for waterfowl extends beyond the field into conservation efforts in their local communities.”
During the most recent Collegiate Waterfowl Tour, Christians met students from across the Midwest, including DU college volunteers and DU staff. Christians is familiar with DU’s Ducks University program from volunteering with its university chapter and knew that both organizations had a similar purpose. They both knew the importance of the R3 movement and its role in growing the college audience.
Today, Campus Waterfowl remains a place where college waterfowl aficionados can share their stories with the entire outdoor industry, learn from other like-minded hunters, and connect with students from across the country.
The Collegiate Waterfowl Tour continues to be the featured video series on Campus Waterfowl.
During the 2021-2022 waterfowl hunting season, Campus Waterfowl traveled to 12 universities across the country, including Texas A&M University, Lake Superior State University, the University of Mississippi and more. Campus Waterfowl has a total of 220,000 followers/subscribers and has amassed over 5.2 million views in the last year.
Watch Campus Waterfowl on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/CampusWaterfowl.
Listen to DU’s podcast on campus waterfowl here.
Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world‘North America’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving vanishing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 15 million acres thanks to the contributions of more than one million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of enough wetlands to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow, and forever. For more information about our work, visit www.patos.org.